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Putin Hopeful on US-Russian Relations Under Bush
Russian President Vladimir Putin, visiting Cuba said on Friday he was optimistic about the future of Washington-Moscow ties under incoming President-elect George W. Bush.
"Currently we have no special grounds to worry about the fate of Russian-American relations," Putin told a news conference in Havana on the second full day of his visit to the communist-ruled Caribbean island.
Putin, who sent a message on Thursday congratulating Bush, added, however, that Russia continued to have various "differences" with the United States, including issues of international security.
"Much will depend on the policy of the new administration. The most important thing is that all the positive things we accumulated in recent years be preserved and increased. We have ground to hope that this development is possible," he said.
"During Bush's election campaign he expressed exactly this attitude to the prospects of Russia-US relations. And judging by the staff surrounding the US president-elect, these people are quite well-known professionals, who know the situation deeply in the relations between the two states."
Putin underlined, however, Moscow's outstanding bones of contention with Washington.
"We have differences with the US. Our positions referring to the anti-missile defense and to the system of international security differ," he said. "We don't think that the principle of humanitarian interventions is right."
PUTIN CALLS FOR BETTER RICH-POOR BALANCE
Putin, who joined President Fidel Castro in publicly condemning on Thursday the US embargo on Cuba, also called for a narrowing of wealth differences between "the golden billion" and the rest of the world's population.
"We believe that in order to guarantee more balance to the world the interests of both poor and rich countries should be taken into account," he said.
Asked about the effect of the recent jailing then pardon by Moscow of American Edmond Pope, convicted of being a spy, he said that should not have any lasting impact on US-Russian ties.
"The activities of secret services of any state is aimed to protect state interests. But actions of these services, including intelligence and counterintelligence, shouldn't interfere in relations between states especially such key states as Russia and the US," said Putin, a former KGB agent.
In Germany on Friday, the newly freed Pope denied he was a spy and said he would write a book about his eight-month-long ordeal in Russia which led to his conviction for espionage.
Putin's visit to Cuba, intended to revive political and economic ties with what was one of Moscow's strongest and most controversial Cold War allies, has raised some eyebrows in the United States.
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